Study Questions: Chapters 12-31

1. Why are the Grangerfords and the Shepherdsons feuding? What was the original reason for their feud?
2. How do Huck and Jim meet the king and the duke? What disguises do the king and the duke adopt during their travels? How do Jim and Huck respond to the two men's schemes?
3. What motivates the ferryboat captain to attempt to rescue the people Huck tells him are stranded on board the Walter Scott? How does Huck encourage this attempt and why?
4. When Huck's conscience troubles him about his role in Jim's escape (Chapter 16), Huck decides to turn Jim in. Why does he change his mind and protect Jim from the men searching for runaways?
5. How do the background and religious beliefs of die Grangerfords conflict with their actions?
6. Shortly after the duke announces that he is the Duke of Bridgewater, the king addresses him as Bilgewater. Why is this inadvertent slip comical?
7. Why do the duke and the king decide to give back the Wilks's inheritance to the girls?
8. Huck says, "If I never learnt nothing else out of Pap, I learnt that the best way to get along with his kind of people is to let them have their own way." What does Huck mean by "his kind of people," and do you agree with Huck's approach?
9. What is Colonel Sherburn's view of the townspeople and humanity in general? Based on this episode and the other instances of crowd behavior in the novel, how do you think Twain feels about mob action?
10. The setting for Chapters 12 through 31 is the Mississippi River and die towns along its shore. How does the river offer Jim and Huck real freedom in contrast to the towns that threaten or deny that freedom?
11. What view of humanity does Twain present through Huck's experiences away from the raft and his observations of people's interactions with each other?
    What motivates the responses of the ferryboat captain and the two men searching for runaway slaves? What message is conveyed by the Grangerford feud and Colonel Sherburn's killing of Boggs?

    In light of the duke and the king's deceitful behavior, why doesn't the reader sympathize widi the crowds they swindle? What kind of behavior characterizes the crowds at the camp- meeting, the Royal Nonesuch performance, and the Wilkses'? What theme is developed through the behavior of these crowds?

    The first-person narration of the story creates situations for dramatic irony, contrasts between the narrator's interpretation of what he sees, says, or does and the reader's interpretation. What are the circumstances of and the irony in Huck's interpretation of the fooling of the circus rinizmaster (Chapter 22)?

    Dramatic- irony occurs when the reader or audience understands meanings in the story that one or more of its characters do not.

    What details does Huck relate that underscore his naivet6?

    How does the irony in this scene highlight the difference between appearance and reality?

    In Chapters 26 and 31 what two difficult moral decisions does Huck make? How do they compare?

    What are the opposing forces in each decision?

    What is ironic about Huck's struggles, particularly his declaration "All right, then, I'll go to hell"?

    Writing

    In an essay describe why they believe it was easy for the duke and the king to fool the Wilks family and much of the town and tell why you would or would not have been fooled had you been in the crowd.

    Prewriting. Review the other instances in which the king, or the king and the duke, together fool entire crowds, such as in the camp meeting or at the Royal Nonesuch performance. Identify the vulnerabilities of the crowd that the king and the duke exploit.

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